The humble pumpkin seed...

So, halloween arrives, you buy the outfits for the kids to go trick or treating in, you stock up on a ridiculous amount of sweets/ treats for the little ones that come knocking on your door, and you get the pumpkins to carve.

Now comes the hard work. And let’s face it, it is hard work!!

The scraping out of the stringy stuff in the pumpkins, the scooping out of the flesh, so you can actually make something edible to enjoy after all your hard work. This can take a long time, size and amount of pumpkins depending.

For me, it seems like there’s an awful lot of waste that goes on when it comes to pumpkins!

People often discard the humble pumpkin seed. Truth is, it’s an incredibly healthy snack, with an abundance of benefits to us:

They help us to get a good nights sleep, thanks to sleep enhancing amino acid tryptophan that converts to serotonin

They’re packed full of mineral magnesium, a known natural relaxant

They help to stabilise blood sugar, and are great as part of a balanced diet when trying to lose weight

They have high levels of Omega 3

Not bad for something we normally chuck in the bin, eh!

Pumpkin seeds are wonderful once toasted, and this simple recipe really transforms them into a healthy snack that everyone will love. This can also be done with butternut squash seeds too, and can be enjoyed on it's own, sprinkled over soup, or onto loaves.

You will need:

Pumpkin seeds, washed, rinsed and dried

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt

Pepper

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Chilli powder

Chilli flakes

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180c/ 340f/ Gas 4. Place the seeds in a roasting tray, pour over the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and sprinkle the salt, pepper, and a large pinch of chilli powder over the top.

Stir until very well combined, and then roast in the oven for 45-50 minutes. Make sure you stir well every 10 minutes or so, so that the seeds roast evenly. It will help to give them a really nice crispy crunchy flavour.

Remove from the oven, sprinkle some more salt, and also a large pinch of chilli flakes, and stir until well combined.